Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) is a nonpartisan network of current and former elected officials who care deeply about protecting our lands, waters, and democracy while ensuring environmental justice and solving the climate emergency. EOPA educates lawmakers with our Public Leadership Certificate, informs through value-based multimedia platforms, and mobilizes elected officials to inspire strong environmental policy. Lawmakers who are veterans and elected officials representing frontline communities lead our mission. 

Founded and led by lawmakers who are veterans, frontline leaders, and young elected officials, we have organized hundreds of elected officials in all 50 states to successfully help ban fracking statewide and win fossil fuel divestment in New York and secure a commitment to phase out oil and gas drilling in California. Nationally, we organized 500 elected officials from 41 states to support the Green New Deal and end fossil fuels and lawmakers who are veterans from 50 states to successfully defend the U.S. Land & Water Conservation Fund.

Our video production company, Code Blue, has exposed Saudi Arabia buying up American water, which was later covered in The Guardian, documented veterans in public office from all 50 states successfully helping defend the Land & Water Conservation Fund, and profiled the Last Chance Alliance coalition of hundreds of organizations calling to phase out oil and gas drilling in California.

EOPA works create prosperity, ensure environmental justice, and protect our lands, waters, and democracy. To achieve these objectives, we focus our strategy on three arenas: 

• Policy and Mobilizing – Our membership of state and local elected officials, who care deeply about protecting the environment, are key program participants. Lawmakers who are veterans and frontline elected officials lead our National and State Leadership Councils. Our Leadership Council members participate in our press conferences, hearings, and earned and paid media campaigns. Our work is centered on peer-to-peer education because the best person to influence another lawmaker is a fellow lawmaker. We strive for demographic, geographic, and political diversity, including leaders from communities of color and frontline communities. 
• Education and Training – EOPA and the University of San Francisco jointly run a Certificate in Public Leadership that expands lawmakers’ and civic leaders’ knowledge to effectively create, communicate, and implement policy through gaining a deeper understanding of emotional intelligence, leadership and management, public speaking, body language, value-based communications, legislative procedures, cyber security, and empathy-based fundraising, while connecting with elected officials who have had a significant impact on public policy. Lawmakers are asked to develop a policy solution to use in the course and advocate for that policy during and after the in-person and virtual programs. The best solution receives a $10,000 prize for implementation. 
• Media and Storytelling – EOPA has an in-house film production arm to educate lawmakers, the media, and the public through visual value-based communication that inspires climate action. We have produced national digital advertisements on clean transportation, created a short documentary on water security where Saudi Arabia is buying up water rights, and countless other videos to support our mission. Additionally, we run a newsmagazine called ProtectEarth.News where we bring together our videos, print articles, letters, policy solutions, and op-eds written by lawmakers to share ideas and combat climate disinformation. Our lawmaker-run podcast the City Climate Corner explores how small and mid-sized cities are tackling climate change and moving toward an equitable and sustainable future. Our parent non-profit the Solon Center For Research and Publishing has published over 70 books.